Lebanon’s Key Decision Makers to Gather for the 8th ArabNet Beirut

Held under the High Patronage of His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Lebanon, General Michel Aoun, and in collaboration with the Central Bank of Lebanon, the 8th edition of ArabNet Beirut will gather the country’s government, largest corporations, and 1300 regional/international digital professionals and entrepreneurs. The event will witness a strong governmental presence including H.E. Mr. Jamal Jarrah, Minister of Telecommunications, and H.E. Riad Salame, Governor of Banque Du Liban, and the sponsorship of many leading companies such as Touch, Alfa, Creditbank, Bank Audi, OMD and LBC.

The conference will kick off with “Prototype Day”, dedicated to helping startups and innovators hone their skills and develop their businesses via a series of workshops on entrepreneurship, hardware and product development. ArabNet Beirut 2017 will then carry on with a two-day Forum, focused on the latest in business transformation, technology, entrepreneurship, and digital media.

A full track is dedicated to digital media and advertising, with a focus on content creation, distribution, monetization and measurement, with forward-thinking speakers from Pepsi, Mars, Publicis, Mindshare, and Discovery Networks. Another track tackles entrepreneurship, from its earliest stages, at universities and research centers, to Venture Capital investment, featuring the newest funds from the region. ArabNet Beirut 2017 also tackles hardware innovation via high profile speakers such as Erik Katz, Founder/CEO of Circuit Launch and Managing Director of Hardware at Hackers/Founders as well as Cyrille Najjar, Founder of White sur White and CEO of White Lab, and Raphaël Crouan, Founder of Startupbootcamp IoT and Managing Director at Connected Devices.

Building on the growing interest of the banking sector, ArabNet Beirut 2017 features a new Banking Innovation Day, bringing together 150 bankers, technology providers and agencies to discuss the latest innovations in banking technology, from smart branches to mobile payments. Speakers include Farshad Nowshadi, Vice President at Saman Bank and VC at Level39 FinTech-London, as well as other senior executives from regional banks such as Riyad Bank, AlAhli Bank, Visa and Garanti Payment Systems from Turkey. The Banking Innovation Day also features a Fintech showcase, with startups from around the region displaying the latest technologies.

ArabNet Beirut 2017 will once again be highlighting the next generation of digital business leaders via its signature competitions, Ideathon, Startup Battle and Creative Combat.